One of China’s most powerful regulators has been sentenced to life in prison on corruption charges, becoming the latest tiger or senior figure to be brought down by President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign.
Liu Tienan, former deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, was charged along with his son with accepting bribes totalling Rmb36m ($5.7m), including a shareholding in a Toyota dealership arranged by senior executives at the Japanese carmaker’s local joint venture partner.
His conviction came just days after the anti-corruption campaign’s highest-ranking victim, Zhou Yongkang, was formally expelled from the ruling Communist party on charges of graft, adultery and leaking state secrets.